Why Ukraine needs to brush up on its drone technology to fight Russia

Here I look at Ukraine's trick to take war to Russia, an alarming trend amongst UK Walter Mitty groups and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'S Army career

An area outside a damaged railway station building following a drone attack in Kursk ( Image: TELEGRAM / @gubernator_46/AFP vi)

Hello and welcome to Hostile World with Chris Hughes, a weekly newsletter about the world of defence and geopolitics. You can subscribe here and follow me on Twitter @defencechris. Thank you!

Welcome back to my newsletter. This week I look at how Ukraine is boosting its drone offensive against Russian troops on the front line and also over the border into Russia. But in the coming months we may see a step change in unmanned plane warfare.

Here, with some help from a former British commander just back from Ukraine, I reveal what technology Kyiv’s intelligence chiefs are desperate to get their hands on. Beyond the explosions and shootings, modern warfare often comes down to tiny technological breakthroughs and Ukraine’s drone operators believe they need to tweak their weapons to intensify the war against Russia.

Back home, Remembrance Day is approaching and a secretive veterans network is battling to expose an epidemic of Walter Mittys trying to steal the bravery of genuine troops. They also warn that some are even posing on the high streets as military charity collectors to scam the public.

Plus a brief look at the late actor David McCallum's military career which started when he was just 18.